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Hi! Remember me? I pulled a disappearing act over the weekend because I decided to take my own advice. I haven’t been feeling all that well – temperature a little high (but just under emergency room high) and a dry cough. In order to keep it from getting any worse I did nothing but rest all weekend. That included not blogging, not answering e-mails or comments, and completely zoning out to multiple movies on Netflix.

Highlights included taking Buster for his walks in the 25C heat. It’s like summer up in here!

My dad kind of freaked out that I made such a giant dessert while I was supposed to be resting. In my defence, I needed to get off my butt for a while, and what better way to do that than with the lure of chocolate? The layers go as such: brownies, chocolate peanut butter cup pieces, chocolate pudding, whipped peanut butter cream cheese, whipped cream. My oh my, let me tell you, this dessert is off the charts. I know all the layers seem time consuming, but I used a boxed brownie mix (I’m sick remember!) and whipped up the rest in the 35 minutes that the brownies baked. The taste is ridiculous. So many good things happening in there.

It’s also the dessert for today’s Thanksgiving dinner. I loooove big dinners as it’s an excuse to make dishes that don’t always fit into the everyday lineup. Today however I’ll be taking it easy again. I see my doctor on Wednesday but I’m debating on going in on this holiday day. I definitely need to have a chest x-ray to see if my cough is a symptom of lung toxicity, which is basically when the chemotherapy poisons your lungs. I may pull another disappearing act until I know I’m better. If cancer is teaching me anything, it’s that my health always comes first. Obligations are never as important or demanding as being alive and well. Take care friends!

Three months ago, I moved from my small Atlantic Canadian hometown to the country’s largest city. My first time ever living away from my home province of New Brunswick. Apart from learning a lot about other cultures here in the self-proclaimed “multicultural capital of the world,” I’ve also learned a lot about my own Maritime culture. Or rather, people’s perception of Maritime culture.

At first, I was taken aback to hear that the rest of Canada stereotypes Atlantic Canadians as heavy drinkers. I mean, we just love our beer as much as the next Canuck!

However, over the past three months, I have learned the stereotypes are in fact true. Us Maritimers really do love our booze more when compared to the rest of Canada. These Ontario folk have two glasses of wine on a Friday and call it a night. Meanwhile, that’s just a usual weeknight in New Brunswick!

When reading through the third challenge of Project Food Blog, I immediately became weary…

Challenge Prompt: Celebrate! You’ve made it this far, and the next challenge is to hold a party for your friends and family (at least four guests, you can include yourself in the 4 person count). Whether you’re an experienced host or an entertaining newbie, get creative and host a luxurious dinner party where your guests will discover new tastes and exotic flavors.

First things first, I still live like a college student. I have never thrown a dinner party. Any parties I have thrown have been far from “luxurious.”

Secondly, the majority of my friends in Toronto are all Maritimers such as myself. The type of people who blow through a case of Keith’s and end up gathered in the kitchen for a traditional “Maritime Kitchen Party” by the end of the night.

With this in mind, I decided to create a “luxurious” menu with a little bit of kick. Something that would take the class up a notch and yet make us still feel right at home.

That’s right my friends, a menu where every dish featuresbeer as an ingredient.

Who said beer can’t be luxurious? ;)

Because I worked both Saturday & Sunday this weekend, I opted to do the majority of my food preparations Friday night. Then have everyone over after work on Saturday night. The Friday night in the kitchen was kind of fun!

What?? You’ve got to test this stuff before you serve it to other people ;)

Dense, fudgy, rich. A definite stamp of approval.

On Saturday, I had two more people confirm they’d be coming. I started to worry that I might not have enough food. Plus, not everyone was scheduled to arrive at the same time. Thankfully, my roommie was on the ball and prepared a Cheesy Beer Dip while I was away at work.

I’m told the dip was Cheez Whiz, cream cheese, and beer. Bam.

Along with some Vodka Tomatoes.

Made by poking holes in tomatoes and letting them soak in the goodness. Thank you Megan!! Both munchies were a hit!

When buying the cheese, I didn’t really clue in to the fact that I’d be adding the whole pound to the soup.

To put it in perspective, the volume of cheese was equal to the volume of liquid in the pot!

Before I knew it, my guests had trickled in and the dishes were ready to eat!

The Starter

The cheddar and beer soup was very hearty. Mostly cheesy with a slight hint of beer. We briefly discussed how many servings of cheese there were in one bowl, then decided it was in our best interest not to know. I toasted the beer bread and it made for a perfect dipper! The Guinness and molasses flavours definitely shine through.

The Main

The sauce for this was uh-mazing. You must make it. Sooner rather than later.

With the coleslaw. This was a hit as well. The flavours were very subdued and it was a nice light side dish to go with the heavier dishes. I think the Bud Light Lime was a great choice for this.

The Dessert

The ice cream was actually a last minute thought. After trying the rich brownies, I knew they needed to be paired with cool and creamy vanilla ice cream. You can’t taste the Guinness in the brownies at all, although I dare to say it brings out the intensity in the chocolate flavour. I saw people go back for seconds on this one!

The Cast of Characters

Megan, my roommie, hostess extraordinaire. Living together for three months and already our kitchen has turned into a foodie paradise.

Amanda, the only non-Maritimer present, but adopted as one of our own.

Billy and Jer, keeping up the “luxurious” standard.

Tom, always ready with an inappropriate comeback.

Colin, who says “no” to mix or ice.

Me! After pulling off my first ever “luxurious” dinner party for my decidedly un-classy group of friends from back home. We ate, we drank, we ate what we drank. Proof that we Maritimers may like our drink, but damn it, we know how to do our drink well. Thank you to Foodbuzz for inspiring this gathering. My lush friends and I had a blast!

Voting for the third challenge opens Monday, October 4. Vote for my booze-infused dinner party here!! And remember to keep it classy blogland!

Crap. Is the weekend really over? I’m pretty bitter over that lost hour – I coulda used it!

I slept in till 8am today which is pretty much unheard of for me. Except, seeing as it was well past midnight before I went to bed, it doesn’t add up to much extra sleep :(

Decided to take a rest day since I worked out twice on Saturday. Rest days call for fancy breakfasts in bed :)

Protein pancakes! This is a new recipe that I sort of made up as I went along, and turned out delicious!

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/4 cup wheat bran

1 tsp baking powder

cinnamon

1 whole egg

1/4 cup soy milk

Topped with coconut,fresh strawberries and sugar-free syrup. Remember when I was complaining about frozen strawberries earlier in the week? Well, fresh ones were on sale for $5/5lbs. And they’re pretty tasty too! They’re the giant strawberries… in season in California maybe?

I was pretty proud of myself for making up a decent batch of pancakes on a whim like this. However, my usual protein pancakes/waffles with oatmeal and cottage cheese aren’t quite as dry.

Lunch featured some maple smoked salmon.

On a english muffin with honey mustard, fresh dill, spinach and swiss cheese. Delicious!!! I’m on a dill kick, it adds such an interesting flavour!

Shortly after I had a chat with Holly about our upcoming adventure to Banff, Alberta! Those of you who are interested in coming, expect an e-mail soon. I booked my flights last week and will be booking our accommodations in Banff tomorrow. I am SO excited. I’ve been to California, but I’ve never been to Western Canada before. I can’t wait to see the mountains!!!

Then, it was on to more serious business. Brownie making business.

I saw this recipe from Zesty Cook for chocolate caramel brownies and knew it would make for a perfect Treat Monday contribution. I’m all for healthy-fying sweets, but not when I’m sharing them with other people. Let’s face it, healthy substitutions just plain suck when compared to the real thing :P

I didn’t double-check the recipe before I bought groceries yesterday, so I didn’t have all the right ingredients. But I still made do!

Started by mixing up a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge brownie pack as per the instructions on the box. I baked a little over half of it for about 15 minutes.

As that was baking, in a pot I melted a package of Kraft caramels with 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup soy milk (less than what the recipe calls for – it seemed like a lot!)

Poured the caramel sauce on top of the brownies with chocolate chips…

And added the rest of the brownie batter!

It took a while for the rest to bake, 20-30 minutes? I really should have timed it as the bottom got a little crunchy. I just wasn’t in a precise mood today I guess ;)

I cut it up into 25 little squares THREE of which I ate! Three brownies people!! Not to mention licking the bowl. But that’s a given.

Get these away from me asap! They are sooooo good! I actually felt a little sick after my brownie consumption as I’m not used to digesting so much crappy sugar at once :P Thankfully, I have my co-workers to pawn them off on for Treat Monday.

I made up for my mass brownie consumption with a giant salad for dinner.

spinach

onions

mushrooms

bell pepper

tomatoes

pickled beets

artichoke hearts

olives

grilled pork tenderloin

feta cheese

tzatziki

I used Liberty tzatziki which was absolutely fab. Thick and creamy, with a nice garlicky flavour to it.

Might I add the pickled beets were also a wonderful addition. Thanks to Emily for helping me get the guts to try them!! (and now I officially feel like an old man for loving them)

Short and sweet post tonight folks, I’ve got a 6am date with a spin bike. I have a feeling I’ll be sweating brownie batter out my pores :P

Question of the Day: What’s your favourite sweet treat? Cookies? Brownies? Cake? Cupcakes? Ice cream? Donuts? Pastries? I am 100% a cookie and brownie person. You could dangle any other sweet treat in front of me and I wouldn’t care. But that is definitely not the case with cookies and brownies!!

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Welcome!

My name is Susan, I'm a 20-something living in Atlantic Canada and this is my blog about... me. I used to blog about food and fitness, but that all changed in June 2011 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, I was declared cancer-free in January 2012. I now write about anything and everything as I stumble through my post-cancer world. I'm a trained journalist currently working as a writer/researcher. I also have a background in personal fitness training and nutrition. Welcome to my piece of the internet!
See my About page or Top Posts page for more.

Contact

E-mail me at: thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com

Due to my current illness, please be patient for responses to e-mails and comments. If anything is urgent, please let me know!